Fire investigative methodologies were researched and analyzed resulting in the development of an organizational tool to be used for conducting fire investigations. The tool, or field-guide, was designed to aid the investigator in processing structural fire scenes. The tool accomplishes this by providing, 1) thirteen forms for properly documenting the scene, 2) flowcharts which can enhance the investigators intuition for the fire’s growth rate and spread, and 3) basic engineering correlations which can be used to help validate hypotheses the investigator may develop. By employing these methods, the field-guide can be effectively used to lead an investigator through the entire investigation process – from data collection, to the formulation of hypotheses, and ultimately, to quantitative validation.